Health

WUHAN: The coronavirus most likely first appeared in humans after jumping from an animal, a team of international and Chinese scientists looking for the origins of Covid-19 said on Tuesday, dismissing as unlikely an alternate theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese lab. A closely watched visit by World Health Organisation experts to Wuhan the Chinese city where the …

PESHAWAR: There is not a single oxygen plant in the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa despite the fact that provincial government spends billions of rupees on improving healthcare system. The health department has set aside billions of rupees to cope with Covid-19 but it has ignored the issue of shortage of oxygen plant, according to doctors. “Management of seriously-ill Covid-19 patients in …

ISLAMABAD: While 1,008 Covid-19 cases and 40 deaths were reported across the country in a single day, the number of active cases has dropped by around 20,000 over the last two months. The number of active cases, which had reached 50,000 by the end of November 2020, dropped to 31,510 on Tuesday. It is the second time that active cases …

CanSino Biologics Inc’s (CanSinoBIO) Covid-19 vaccine showed 74.8 per cent efficacy in preventing symptomatic cases and a 100pc success rate in stopping severe disease among Pakistanis in an interim analysis, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said on Monday. In the global trials, the efficacy of the vaccine at preventing symptomatic cases was 65.7pc …

KARACHI: The Sindh government would buy 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China, the health department stated on Monday. Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho held a meeting with Chinese Consul General Li Bijian and shared matters related to purchase of Covid-19 vaccine, training of healthcare providers and transfer of health technology. Secretary health Dr Kazim Jatoi was also …

ISLAMABAD: While Covid-19 vaccines are new and there are chances of adverse effects after vaccination, a comprehensive system has been put in place for monitoring post-immunisation events, said the Ministry of National Health Services. Moreover, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) on Monday held a training session on monitoring of possible adverse events following …

LONDON: The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine fails to prevent mild and moderate cases of the South African coronavirus strain, researchers said on Sunday. The University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, which conducted the trial, said in a statement that the vaccine “provides minimal protection against mild-moderate Covid-19 infection” from the variant. But in a full paper due to be published on Monday, AstraZeneca said …

NEW DELHI: India has approved the shipment of Covid-19 vaccine to Cambodia and plans to supply Mongolia and Pacific Island states, officials said on Sunday, as supplies arrived in Afghanistan — all part of the country’s widening vaccine diplomacy. Seeking to steal a march over rival Asian giant China, which has also promised to deliver shots, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s …

ISLAMABAD: As majority of the frontline healthcare workers in the federal capital have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach to get themselves vaccinated against Covid-19, only 34 so far received the vaccine since campaign was launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Feb 2. However, District Health Officer Dr Zaeem Zia expressed the hope that a large number of healthcare …

ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus claimed 53 more lives as another 1,346 people tested positive for the deadly disease during the past 24 hours across Pakistan. According to the latest update released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 1,346 new infections surfaced after 36,954 samples were tested during this period. The positivity ratio of Covid-19 cases was recorded at 3.64 …